Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington D.C., deserves at least an honorable mention, for standing strong in the face of threats of jail time from House Republicans, for allowing the will of the voters (70 percent of them) to become law this week.

Today marks the 73rd anniversary of The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as The Great LA Air Raid, one of the most mysterious incidents of World War II -- and one of the most colorful tales in all of UFO lore. It's also a tale we couldn't resist turning into a movie.

Too often the church becomes a place where we don't want to alienate anyone. And so, we alienate everyone. And slowly we stop becoming a community of disciples, and we start becoming a museum of a faith community that once was.

"Persons" who are not subject to the same laws as the rest of us, who are able to force their employees to follow the same religious restriction they hold, who can control elections without accountability or transparency, and who can act with impunity sound awfully like the monarchs of old.

This weekend really got us thinking. While to many of us the 4th of July means the beach, barbecues, fireworks and a much-needed vacation, it also represents an immensely important part of our history.

When I hear people talk about their family's history, their ethnicity -- mandalas, Celtic warblings, a dashiki, even a dish their old odd grandmother makes back in Ukraine -- I find myself longing for that kind of context.

You probably that in one Nebraska parade, a float depicting President Obama in overalls outside an outhouse titled the "Obama Presidential Library" has stirred up controversy. This float, whether it meant to or not, did something more than just make a satirical political stance.

We have been led like sheep by our government and big retail business together to use this day, July 4th, to extol the wonders of our national history, the successes of our illustrious government, and historical traditions that define these here United States. Not any more!

In the 1770s, America was a relatively low tech, agrarian society, but as you can see from the list below, all that was about to change. So here, for your Independence Day reading pleasure, are the seven hottest tech trends circa 1776.

Another Independence Day is upon us. This year, however, I'm calling on all those who yearn to be free of the shackles that bind them to a job or career, which is safe and known yet limiting and unfulfilling, to create the career of their dreams.

While my family and I enjoy the privilege of a semi-suburban life, I wonder what it would take for me to willfully pay a stranger to take them thousands of miles away, alone, to another country with the probability of never seeing them again.